The Most Common WordPress Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)

Introduction

For many clients, WordPress is the de facto go-to solution. It promises to be the engine for your website, with many shiny features and a long standing history. The good news is, it is that! But with so many themes, plugins and third-party add-ons, it’s also easy to get overwhelmed.

This guide will help you establish what’s necessary for your website, and the costly mistakes to avoid from the perspective of a Freelance WordPress Developer with over 8 years experience.

 

Page Builders

The number one downfall for so many WordPress websites — a heavy page builder. What can look good on the surface, can also hide an absolute mess below.

From my experience, that’s true of all third-party page builders. They pile on unnecessary code, duplicate styles, and inline scripts. Before you know it, your simple homepage weighs more than an e-commerce store.

Page builders make it too easy to create something that looks polished but performs poorly. They hide the complexity of good development behind a drag-and-drop interface.

So what’s the alternative?

A well-built custom theme can offer all the attractive aspects of a page builder, but without the bloat. That’s no redundant code, no unnecessary dependencies, no guessing which plugin update might break your layout.. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, it’s a tailored website that’s built to achieve your goals specifically.

As an alternative, the native Gutenberg editor offers the drag-and-drop experience natively — arguably even more reason to avoid third-party page builders. The caveat being that it can be tricky to shape around your brand, unless it’s been properly set up or customised by a developer. Great for simple or websites of small scale, nonetheless!

Plugins

I have a general rule. If you’re on a large monitor (say 27″ and above), and your WordPress admin sidebar requires you to scroll to see the bottom of the list, you’ve probably got too many plugins installed.

Plugins are one of the most appealing aspects of WordPress — and to be clear, they absolutely have their place. Tools like Yoast SEO, Smush, and WooCommerce are great examples. They provide functionality that wouldn’t otherwise make sense to build from scratch.

The problem comes when plugins are added to introduce tiny features, or to avoid using a developer. Each plugin adds weight to your website, and raises the chance of conflicts. It’s not unusual to see a website slow down or even break entirely, because of a handful of poorly maintained or unnecessary plugins.

So my advice, before installing a plugin — ask yourself:

 

Is this plugin introducing something major, or just a small tweak?

Adding SEO functionality? Yes, you’ll want to use a plugin. Changing the colour of a button? That’s probably better handled without one.

 

Does the plugin include additional features that aren’t relevant to my website?

In other words, are you adding redundant code that can slow things down without offering any real benefit.

 

Has the plugin been updated recently, and how many active installs does it have?

A plugin that hasn’t been maintained for years is far more likely to cause more problems than it is to solve.

Ignoring Updates

WordPress isn’t static — it needs regular updates. Whether that be plugins, themes, or WordPress itself. When you skip them, you’re effectively leaving the door open to performance issues, and potentially even security vulnerabilities.

Many clients assume updates are just about adding new features, but that’s not always the case. They also patch security holes or fix compatibility problems — both of which help keep your website running smoothly with the latest browsers and technology.

One of the most commonly overlooked updates is PHP — the language WordPress is built upon. Hosting providers often allow you to select the PHP version you want your website to use. If you set this once, but never update it, you could be running something that’s years out of date. Old PHP versions aren’t just slower; they eventually stop receiving security support altogether. You can find the currently supported PHP versions here.

It’s important to always take a backup before performing an update. Whilst updates performed on WordPress websites that are well-built, or aren’t as old are generally safe, it’s never a guarantee. Having a way to quickly restore a previous, working version of the website is key. It should be noted that backups will take a ‘snapshot’ of the database at the time of backup. If you run an e-commerce store, and revert to a backup, orders taken between the backup time, and the rollback time, may not be captured. In this case, I recommend performing updates on a separate environment — such as a staging area. Lots of hosting providers offer this feature — speak to yours for more information on this.

Hosting Providers

Just like plugins, there’s no shortage of hosting providers — and many of them are very good at marketing. They make their core services sound irresistible. For example, one hosting provider (that shall not be named), promotes hosting for an extremely low cost per month, packed with “features”.

Well that doesn’t sound bad, what’s the problem? I’m glad you asked. Most of those features are standard across nearly all other hosting providers. What really changes is the quality and quantity of the server resources — and that’s typically what the price reflects. Cheaper hosting usually means less power and lower performance.

So, how do you find a quality hosting provider your WordPress website?

Look closely at the terminology they use. For example:

“Create up to 50 websites” vs “2GB RAM”

The first phrase hides real performance details behind flashy, best-case promises. The second approach is transparent. It tells you exactly how much server resource you’re getting.

It can feel intimidating to read specs like “2GB RAM” if you’re not from the technical world — and that’s perfectly fine. A good hosting provider will explain both sides: the technical details and what they mean in practical terms. The best ones often include a slider or comparison tool to help you select a plan based on your website’s needs, without you having to be an IT expert!

Conclusion

WordPress is a great choice, and powers approximately 40% of all websites — but ensuring you’re not falling into these common traps is essential to keep your website performant.

If you’ve noticed that your WordPress website has fallen victim to one of these common mistakes, and need some help from a Freelance WordPress Developer, get in touch — I’d be happy to help.